Guitar Hero
by KnitChick1979
Summary: Owena catches Jacqueline playing Guitar Hero. Just a quick little fic that came to me when I unlocked the next level in GHIII tonight and saw a Sex Pistols song in there. :


_Guitar Hero _by KnitChick1979

"I'm fine... uh... "

"Bill. Please, won't you let me drive you home?" The man's blue eyes narrowed as Owena stumbled toward the wooden door set into the wall.

"I'm fine, Bill," she insisted, fumbling with her keys. "Go ahead, I'll be okay."

He folded his arms. "You're struggling to get into a tourist office that no one has ever seen actually open, and refusing a perfectly good ride to your flat. How is that okay?"

"There's a secret door leading to a secret office and there's a nice comfortable secret couch in there that I sleep off my drinks on all the time," Owena said, finally finding the key that opened the tourist office door.

"Yeah, right," Bill said. "Last call, you're positive you don't want a ride?"

"I'm fine," Owena grumbled, stumbling inside the door. "G'night!" she called, closing the door and swaying a bit as she walked around to where the inner door release button was. She hit the button and the outer door clicked shut while the inner door slowly slid open. Pausing a moment to catch her balance, gripping the edge of the counter, Owena then stumbled across to the elevator, swaying back and forth and grabbing at the nearest wall every two steps. "Oooo I shouldn't have had that tenth beer," she moaned softly, hitting the lower level button and slumping against the back wall of the elevator.

The elevator came to a smooth stop and Owena slowly made her way down the hallway, one hand on the wall, and pushed the button to open the main Hub door, groaning as the klaxon and flashing lights made her hangover seem even worse. She hurried through the gates before they closed again automatically, then collapsed onto the steps to regain her balance and catch her breath.

As the vertigo slowly passed, Owena could make out a familiar tune. She listened quietly, struggling through the fuzz in her brain to recognize it, then she heard a familiar lyric.

"I wanna destroy the passer-by / Cos I wanna be anarchy / Ho dogs body."

"Wait..." Owena looked around the Hub. The lights were low, obviously shut down for the night. The only person who was likely to be around was Jacqueline...but Owena didn't think it was likely that her boss would be listening to the Sex Pistols. Then she heard what sounded like a guitar string breaking and a curse in Welsh.

"What the hell is going on here?" Owena muttered to herself. She stood up, wobbling a little bit, and then followed the sound of the music to Jacqueline's office. As she took the stairs one at a time, Owena noticed the blinds were closed, blocking the large picture windows that looked out onto the main Hub.

"Those blinds are never closed unless Teagirl is in there. And I know for a fact she's out of town," Owena told herself. The music was getting louder the closer she got to the office door.

An alien curse could be heard over another jarring note just as Owena reached the door. She hesitated, hand on the doorknob, listening to a few last notes play, then there was the sound of...was that cheering?

Owena opened the door to a darkened office, the only light coming from one of the larger monitors in the room. It's glow just barely illuminated Jacqueline, standing in the middle of the office with a white and black guitar in her hands, grumbling under her breath.

"Jacqueline?" Owena said.

Jacqueline jumped, nearly dropping the guitar. "What the hell are you doing here?" she barked.

Owena held up her hands. "Hey hey, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you! I came back here to sleep off the booze, it's a bit closer than my flat, and I couldn't help hearing the music. Didn't peg you for a Sex Pistols fan, though."

Jacqueline slipped the guitar strap over her head and gently laid the guitar on her office couch. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone around. Sit," she added, pointing to her desk chair.

"Thanks." Owena flopped into the chair and looked at the monitor. "Guitar Hero?"

If the light weren't so dim, Owena would have sworn she saw Jacqueline blush. "One of my little side hobbies. I don't really sleep much, and when the Rift's quiet..." Jacqueline shrugged. "There's only so many science fiction novels out there. So I thought I'd give this a try."

Owena chuckled. "Of all people I never would have thought you would have an interest in Guitar Hero. You never cease to amaze me, Jacqueline."

"I try to expand my horizons," Jacqueline said. "Would you like to play? I, uh, only have one controller, sorry."

Owena waved a hand. "I'm too pissed to even think about trying. But I'll watch. I like the Sex Pistols."

Jacqueline groaned. "Sure, I was screwing up enough as it is, now you're gonna make me nervous!"

"Sounded fine to me," Owena said. "But usually when you hit a wrong note you keep playing, you don't cuss out the guitar."

"Shut it you," Jacqueline said. "Or I'll make you sleep it off with Myfanwy!"

Owena moaned. "Please don't! Fine, play whatever you're good at."

Jacqueline snorted. "I just got this thing, I'm not very good at all." She picked up the guitar again and backed out of the career mode she had been working in and shifted over to Quickplay. "Hmmm..." She studied the song list, which had only been unlocked up to the European Invasion section, finally selecting "Slow Ride" by Foghat.

By the time Jacqueline finished the ending chords, biting back a few curses during the difficult solo section, Owena was fast asleep, snoring away in the chair. Jacqueline chuckled, and shut down the Wii. She tucked the game system and guitar into their hiding spots and then moved Owena to the couch before climbing down the ladder into her own bed.

Owena woke up with a start, momentarily confused about her surroundings. When she recognized Jacqueline's office, though, she calmed down and then tried to remember the previous night.

"Good afternoon sunshine," Jacqueline said cheerfully.

Owena turned to look at her boss, who was sitting at her desk with mounds of papers in front of her. "What time is it?"

"Almost one in the afternoon. How much did you drink last night?" Jacqueline said.

"Enough," Owena snapped. "How did I end up on this couch? I always sleep on the one downstairs."

Jacqueline shrugged. "I don't know, I found you in here this morning."

"Huh." Owena sat up and stretched. "I had the strangest dream, I dreamt you were playing lead guitar for the Sex Pistols."

Jacqueline laughed. "That's quite the dream! Come on, it's dead around here, let's go get some lunch."

Owena looked down at her rumpled clothes. "Can I at least shower and change first?"

"Sure. You have ten minutes. I'll go get the car." Jacqueline snatched her military greatcoat from its customary hook by her office door and headed out of the room.

Owena shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs, then made her way down to the showers. One thing was for sure. Next time she drank that much, she was taking a taxicab home!

THE END


End file.
